This may be a blessing in desguise as the country is forced to be more self reliant (provided they are innovative and enterprising). But unfortunately this may be a big problem as our professionals and politicians are clueless. Despite more than half a century of professional training in science/technology/management the professionals have contributed very little to the country as you may imagine from this article on low tech garment manufacturing.

International community must apply economic sanction on Sri Lanka for worst human right violations, abductions, and extra judicial killings. Sri Lankan government continue to kill Tamils in order to wipe out entire Tamil population. In fact, more than 40% of the Eelam Tamils already eliminated from Tamil Eelam.Sri Lanka will certainly become another Taliban if International community failed to act now. Sri Lankan government clearly said it is not interested in Western or EU and human rights because it receives 50% of the aid from Iran now.As a Tamil, with other Tamil Diaspora, my family stopped buying any 'made in Sri lanka' items since 2005. If a country violating human rights and democratic will of people, the world must apply sanctions. Tamils decided to go separate in 1977 and this decision was supported by more than 90% Tamils. Sri Lankan state terrorist use 'Ugly democracy', paramilitary, state military and other sources against the Tamils political will. Tamils are a nation and have self-determination. Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka must respect this. Similar to Kosova, Eelam must be recognized and Tamils must be allowed to govern themselves and free from Sri Lankan state terrorist.

Sri Lanka lost its place in the UNHRC because of the proven widespread human rights violations.The coalition of human rights agencies commented "Rather than promote human rights worldwide as required of Council memebers by GA Resolution 60/251, Sri Lanka has sought to use its Council membership to shield itself from constructive international scrutiny"
Depite this step, rights violations continue with impunity.
The human Rights Watch in July 21st 2008 said
"President Mahinada Rajapakse, once a rights advocate has now led his government to become one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances"
The Asian Centre for Human Rights puts Sri Lanka as No1 in Human Rights violations in South Asia.-August 2008
Thus, even if the EU fail to renew the GSP , Sri Lanka is likely to continue with its human rights violations.
Militancy amongst the Tamils raised its ugly head; in defence, after 30 years of periodic violence by successive governments.Paul Seighart of the International Commission of Jurists observed "...it is remarkable that the Tamils did not retaliate in spite of the fact that the pogroms progressively grew in frequency and intensity. They held on to non-violence"
This resistence movement has nothing to do with the so called spectre of 'terrorism'; originated after 9/11, which incidentaly has no internationally accepted definitions- one reason being that many states, like Sri Lanka indulges in them.
Hence, if the rights violations continue even after withdrawing the GSP facilities then the EU must consider lifting the ban on the resistance movement and force an international/UN monitoring mission in Sri Lanka.
Otherwise all these execises of UN,EU or any other international actions will have no effect or serves no meaningful purpose to stop this almost 50 year violence on the indigenous Tamil people.

Lucid Dreamer and others defending the murderous SL regime blame all the human rights abuses--murders, abductions, rapes, etc on the "ruthless" nature of the LTTE, conveniently forgetting that these pogroms against Tamils started well before the LTTE came into being--indeed these pogroms by the GoSL and the Sinhalese extremists in general provided the rationale for the origin and rise of the LTTE.

The GoSL project is to exterminate as many Tamils as possible, to pillage and plunder the Tamil regions and leave the Tamils destitute, all in the name of defeating the "terrorist" LTTE, and then to install cravenly puppets by fraudulent elections, as happened in the East with the TMVP.

In the wake of what happened in the Balkans and now in Georgia, is the West content to allow this extermination go ahead? Whether it is as in Kosovo, South Ossetia or even Cyprus, the Tamil population in Sri Lanka needs protection from World powers.

GSP is a reward for sustainable development and good governance; it is not a birthright of every developing country. Sri Lanka’s dismal human rights record, which is a result of lack of good governance, should automatically disqualify that country from GSP .

Being a democracy is not enough justification for the gross violations of human rights that the Sri Lankan state engages in. Enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings are unacceptable in the 21st century. Let’s not kid ourselves into believing the state’s official propaganda that the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and even The Economist are on the payroll of the Tamils.

Sri Lanka has been a beneficiary of GSP for two years, during which time the country’s human rights record has consistently deteriorated. Continuing to reward a failing state will only act to encourage other states to fail or simply cease from attempting to improve.

If Sri Lanka is a true democracy, then subtle pressure on the majority population, would translate in to changes in central government policies. A country where internal policy is not shaped by the masses is an autocracy; not a democracy.

The tools available to European countries do not end with the denial of GSP . Should Sri Lanka continue on its slippery slope to pariah state status, the country can be thrown out of the Commonwealth; have its assets frozen; be banned from purchasing military items; and have officials banned from travel.

This is a SHAM! Why should the EUROPEAN TAX PAYERS pay for consessions to countries and governments that not only FAIL to look after their citizensbut also bomb the hell out of their own destrying towns and cities?
WHY? WHY?

We have enough people in Europe who are looking to develop themselves given the oppotunity, so why give to those who want to destroy themselves?

I strongly believe that if Sri Lankan people LOVE WAR so much and spend a third of nation's income to kill off their minority communities instead of developing together, then THEY SHOULD pay for this extra burden of keeping their country in the beggars list and NOT US!

We know how much the members mainly minorities who escaped the killing fields are contributing to our countries.

The poor fellows in factories may be affected by stopping the GSP BUT its these people who are also supporting the war-mongers in the governmentto destry their country.

Wish all the best to the minorities in getting out of the hands of this destructive majority destroying the whole country.

What most external actors fail to realise is that the Sri Lankan conflict is a result of Sinhala superiority complex based on a 2000 year Mahavamsa fantasy. The Tamil library of 75000 historical documents was completely burnt down in 1981 by Sinhala politicians and police in order to eradicate the Tamil historical identity on the island. Those documents and Tamil identity of immense value are lost forever. Tamil villages, towns and districts have been colonised by the State and turned into Sinhala areas. Tamils live in Colombo in secluded ghettos because it is safer than the shelling, raping, abductions and embargo in the North and East. They have no choice but to move to Colombo as transit point out of the country. Therefore for a free and fair opinion on Tamils political aspirations you can only consider the view of the majority of the diaspora who say that restoration of sovereignty of Tamil Eelam is the only solution as voted for by Tamils in 1977 and 2004. Sri Lanka is a colonial product. Tamil and Sinhala lands were unified by the British for administrative purposes only. For 2000 years prior to colonisation Tamils and Sinhalese had divided the island sensibly among themselves. That is what the island has to revert to in order to achieve peace. GSP or not, in order to achieve lasting peace, this type of pussy footing is not going to change the entrenched Sinhala hegemonic ideological mindset that is based on a 2000 year old fantasy. Kosovo is the only way.

I skimmed through the commentes and was dissapointed to see that the organized anti-Sri Lankan (possibly pro-LTTE terrorist) cabal is promoting their agenda here as they do across most Western media outlets. These well educated well placed closet racits use human rights and media freedom as a smokeshield to promote a hideous international agenda that you rarely see in the context of a third world country. These cunning exploiters are abusing Western guilt for persecuted minorities.

Sri Lanka is a third world country. Its central government is weak, corrupt and short lived. But that is not the full story. The political power changes hands quite frequently under a long established democratic system with only a few hitches. This fragile democracy had dealt with a determined, foreign aided and funded, ruthless terrorist group which had completely altered the democratic functioning of the country by targetted assasinations for 30 years. There is no democratic country I know of that has survived such intense violence and retained the faith.

Of course this has made internal politics extremely bitter and divided so many will go against their own country's interests to promote their personal politics. But I have to say that that it is wrong to claim that government violence is along ethnic lines which anyone can verify by looking at the Eastern province developments. A 'reformed' LTTE terrorist won elections and runs the show there, a sign of hope for healing the divisions. People forget that corruption and social justice issues in Sri Lanka is probably far less than in other South Asian neighbors like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc, but due to many reasons Sri Lanka remains an easy target for media and INGOs.

Most Europeans who arrive in Sri Lanka come with hostility towards the government which I find puzzling because they are seeking to promote justice and rights withing the country. If the GSP is withheld it would hurt only the average joes. The small elite who runs business and government (paradoxically this elite is made up disproportionately of minority ethnic and religious groups, a fact none will advertise) will have more reason to expand their power. A silent majority of all shades have and will bear the cost of Western mis-reading of the situation.

If Sri Lanka doen't lose GSP on this matter, it will lose it on another count. This is a carrot that has been used by the EU to get things done. However, EU has failed to realise that if it drops GSP for Sri Lanka, it loses it's say in the country's affairs.

This will mean very drastic neglect on the part of Sri Lankan administrators to address issues that are of value to the EU.

What EU should do is to keep the GSP system for Sri Lanka and pressuerise it to toe the line on human rights.

From the point of view of Sri Lanka, losing GSP is not the end of the garment industry which has survived without such a system. Stopping the war for GSP is not at all viable for Sri Lanka from an economic perspective as the value of economic resources in LTTE controlled areas far outweigh what GSP offers. Sri Lanka will have to follow a very aggressive resource exploitation (especially minerals) scheme in the north-east if it finds difficult to manage its balance of payment. It may also consider cutting aid to areas of least political significance which is once again the north-east.

Therefore by "punishing" Sri Lanka by cutting GSP will have uncorrectable negative effects on what is dear to the EU. A more constructive approach would tie the government to results delivery.

How can the war in Sri Lanka be stopped? The EU says you must settle down and negotiate. But for the government to do this, the LTTE must show that they are serious about the talks, instead of building up their armys and when ready start it all over again. I understand the government for not to trust the LTTE. For more than 20 years, the LTTE have carried out suicide attacks against innocent civillians. That is a cowardly act of terrorism. I saw an interview with a Black Tiger and she said this: "They are attacking our villages. That is why we are doing this." Is it the small children who are carrying out these "attacks"? Is it the hard working men and women? If you want to fight, then fight the army and not innocent civillians. The LTTE have shown us how their so called "Tamil Eelam" will look like. In their terror regime there are no room for other thoughts. If you disagree with the "leader" than you can expect to get killed. This have happened to many tamils throughout the years. Why are you still propagating a separated Sri Lanka? The island belongs to all communities. There are so many tamils and sinhalese living in peace and harmony together down south. I am sure that could be the case up north too. But it seems like the LTTE are doing their best to spread hatred among the communities.

Welikade massacre of 53 inmates(mostly political suspects) in a high-security prison for the worst thugs didn't sentence the perpetrators because ''it would give a bad picture of Sri lanka in the eyes of the international community'' in the words of a high official who would have been implicated in the crime if Sri lanka has COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY in its legal books. One of the leading perpetrators went up to a senior prison official with the severed head of a butchered Tamil but was knocked down by the angry and conscientious official. Any end to the butchering of Tamils in the land which is supposed to be made the ''land of Buddhism''.

Because of the army excesses in Jaffna cut off from the rest of the country, some people have been asking Jaffna Human Rights Commission for 'safekeeping' them and their families and they have been kept in jaffna prisons because they have no other place to keep their desperate citizens. Now the government wants to shift the desperate people in 'government protection' in Jaffna prison to be transferred to Sri lankan Army High Security Zone in Tellipallai. We know what happened to the 27 youths who were kept in 'rehabilitation centre ' in Bindunuwewa - they were butchered by the neighbouring villaged when scores of policemen on guard looked on!!. What's more, nobody was charged at the end of the five-year 'investigation'!! This is democracy of Buddhist Sinhala Republic of Sri Lanka!!! It has been the fault of the donors of the last fifty years for ethnic impact-insensitive aid which has been channelled to militarise the country to become the most militarised South Asian country.

I do not think Sri-Lanka is struggling to meet the human rights standards – it has simply failed and the country is one of the worst violators of human rights in the world, according to many respected human rights organizations.GSP Plus or any other concessions should not have been offered in the first place, until the SL Govt complies with human rights standards. The softly-softly approach used by the EU and the West will not work with countries like SL. The official inflation rate is about 30%, but the real inflation experienced by ordinary people is much higher. Even at 30%, SL has the highest inflation rate in Asia. The SL Govt can still thank God for Zimbabwe!I think people should not be misled by comparing Western democracies to Sri-Lanka’s democracy. Sri-Lanka did have a good democratic system until the late 1970s compared to other third-world countries. What it has now is more like a fifth-world democracy. For example:1. The President and his three UNELECTED brothers control about 80% of the country’s budget.2. Journalists and opposition MPs are threatened, attacked and murdered.3. International media is not given free access to the conflict areas.4. Widespread kidnapping of business people in Colombo for ransoms with the collusion of the security services. 5. Continuous erosion of free speech and the rule of law.If the EU and the West really want to end the conflict, they should stop pussy-footing around and start imposing smart sanctions on Sri-Lanka, such as: boycotting sports ties, travel ban on the country’s leaders, stopping the children of the leaders coming to study in the West.A solution to the war is unlikely to come as the people who have the power to solve are those profiting from the war. In other words, for a small minority in the country the war is a business!Sri-Lanka needs the EU and the EU does NOT need Sri-Lanka, because beggars cannot be choosers.

The world have been kept in the dark for the last 25 years. successive governments of Srilanka has waged this war on the Tamils to prove that the Island is for Sinhala Buddhists, that Tamils have no place in the Island even though Tamils have lived long before Vijaya and his criminals landed near Thamparani on the west coast near Puttalam. ( this is quoted from Mahavamsa of the sixth century. This president after coming to power in 2005 December has gone to prove the mythical story found in the Mahavamsa. He initiated the war and taken the charater of Duttagameni to exterminate the Tamils. this unwanted war is covered up as fighting Terrorism today the horrendus violation of humanrights being committed. Do they need GPS no the EU should use this as the economic saction to stop the unwanted war. stop state terrorism now before all the Tamils in the North get wiped out. stop dithering act now and don't regret like what UN and west are doing in Dafurr and earlier in Rewanda and kosowo. EU please note unless a drastic action like economic sanction and stopping sales and aid of arms you too will be accused of propergating this war against humanity, and staing your hands with Tamil Blood.

The Tamils will not have any objection for Mrasa's concern for the garment workers and their problem is the market for their goods. But does Mrasa know the the depth of sufferings by the Tamils in the Northeast whose plight is hidden by the GOSL and their media. The sixty years of oppression of genocidal proportion has driven the majority of Tamils to various countries in the world and those remaining in the Northeast are displaced from their houses and again displaced from their temporary shelters and reduced to the nomadic life of the beginning of civikisation and worse the army of occupation is preventing them from food gathering (which atleast the nomads of the beginning could do freely) by the occupation army not allowing them any fishing and further occupying the agricultural lands as bloody high security zones and on top of that air raids on the civilian targets. IF THE EU REALLY WANTS TO KNOW THEY COULD TAKE SATTELITE PICTURES. LET THE SINHALESE AND ALSO THE REST OF THE PEOPLE BE WARNED: If you make people desperate beyond limit, THEY WILL DEFINITELY HIT BACK AND EVEN IF THEY DIE THEY WILL MAKE YOU TO DIE IN MULTIPLE PROPORTIONS.

GSP was indeed a great help to the country an withdrawing that support by EU would defintely give a very remarkable blow on country� economy. of course, the EU cannot be blamed since they have all the right to decide what they should do with their monetary support. but the question is the basis of the withdrawel. accusing the government on humanitarian ground cannot be anyway neglected but definitely the withdrawel of GSP would not solve the problem. it might in a way can make things worse. would EU hold the responsobility then?
once the poverty strikes the poor and ordinary people, most of whom are working in the grament industries, what would be the next step? will it solve all the violations against human rights? this is where our worldgoes no where. this is a clear proof that business world would never understand the human worls.